The leader of South Ayrshire Council has claimed "nobody wanted" the brand new leisure centre that was finally axed this morning.
In a tense vote at County Buildings, Provost Iain Campbell was required to place the casting vote after councillors were split 14-14 on whether to proceed with the plan.
But the new Tory-led administration has now scrapped what had been a signature project of the previous regime.
All four independent councillors voted with the Tories to scrap the centre, with the SNP and Labour bidding to save their original idea.
The council has already spent around £1.68m on the project, including £713,000 on a non-returnable deposit for the purchase of the Arran Mall, in-house staffing costs and consent fees.
The decision came amid a backdrop of soaring costs and public controversy around plans to close the Citadel and switch to a new £41m facility in the heart of the town.
Conservative council leader, Martin Dowey, told Ayrshire Live: "At the most recent estimate, cost to build the leisure centre was £52 million and rising.
"Clearly that was not a sustainable position to be in for a project that nobody wanted in the first place.
"We were always very clear in our opposition to the plans and have made good on our pre-election pledge not to proceed with the project.
"We'll now look to get on with some exciting and ambitious plans for the regeneration of not only the town centre, but the Citadel itself."
The budget for the project had increased several times since its inception, when an initial figure of £35.5m became £41m on setting of the formal budget.
Last October, it was revealed that inflation would result in a further increase of £4m.
A further £1m increase followed, citing the financial impact of the pandemic.
On August 30, the new administration was told that the costs had rocketed to £51m.
And latest studies indicated that the costs had risen by £1m in just over a month. With high inflation expected to continue for some time, the £52m would likely have seen further increases.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
